Mary James

Mary , you may also want to look for Kelly Ware. She seems to know where and what permaculture events are going on in the Flathead.

Miles,
there are several different styles of Ozans we used to make a full cover which when up had a center hole that was open to allow for the ventilation aspect when burning fires. Partial ozans can be made to cover the sleeping areas.Different tribes had different ways of using the ozans based on the needs..
If an ozan is put in properly your smoke still goes up through the smoke flap area.Hence needing the drafting area formed by the outside of the lodge and the liner.
When we used the fire pit in the winter in our tipi's we always dug them in lined them with stone.Preferable one that will hold and retain heat.The flat ones are great to heat up and use similar to a hot water bottle and to pre-warm beds.We used to also cook in ours over the fire and in the coals.A decent firewood that sets coals and you can cook a decent meal in the cast iron pots and utilize the heat for warmth very productively through the night.

Hi Miles,
What we do with traditional tipis is first with set up never let the lodge cover touch the ground. The elders always looked at the fact a liner is easier to repair or remake then the outside lodge covering.The canvas choice makes a big difference as well.Heavier and properly sealed for our area is a must.. In the winter we always ran a double liner, the lightweight one went to the ground.Since we burned a fire in our tipis we always had this and the lodge covering set properly to not only insulate but along with smoke flaps being open correctly for our drafting. Which if done correctly can be used to also move heat down to ground level..Our fires were used for cooking, heating stones and and water.In the winter we added a second heavy liner that went higher up and did go to the ground but could be rolled up.In the traditional tipis we used buffalo hides for this in the others we used a double wool blanket stitched together with a waterproof canvas on the outer side against the standard liner.These we ran about a foot higher then the liner in the inside. The heavier canvas ozan also worked to keep the heat down over the living area.Ours were always made to detail to custom fit the tipi and owners pending on their usage...
The tipi siting and around the outside we also used to groom for proper drainage away from the tipi..as well as placement according to the area and normal wind patterns for the season..
Mary

Just have to say this seems like a lot of work to stay in a tipi over the winter. We used to make tipis and sell them in Montana..As a native American family business.We have stayed in Montana winters in tipis before and have had friends who lived in Whitefish in their 20 footer for over 8 years with out adding what has been done utilizing the tipi as a total living area.Proper usage of the flaps, liner,a winter liner made for insulation and ozan.Along with understanding how to use the fire area and we know from experience they can be very comfortable through out the winter...Reading this was a giggle to us..Guess different stroke for different folks..

Hi Mary,
While we do not consider ourselves Permies,LOL we do utilize some techniques that are just plain old that seem to now fall under the label of permaculture.We are south of Lakeside and used to teach alternative gardening classes for growing in the area.We do alternative building as well but do not have anything in the works at this time.Not sure if we will be offering our usual full blown free classes this year, hoping to not have to set up demos or do lectures either,,LOL but we are always willing to help others learn how do their own..
Mary and James

Dennis
I will go through the book case and see what all the titles ore for you when I get a chance.Sounds like your doing well with your concept.Really appreciated reading your paragraph about writing it and giving credit where it is due,, Thank you for explaining that.The seamstresses book will be good for many it seems so many people do not take the extra time to learn to handle this aspect.
Even the really heavy animal hides tan out to easier sewing when brain tanned or worked more..A good brain tanned buffalo is heavy but I have used a size 8 glover needle on them and done bead work with no problem, other then the neck that makes great soles for mocs .Moose is similar to the buffalo for this as well. The chemical tanning does not leave them as supple and as easy to stitch through.I can do bead work with a size 12 beading needle on a properly done brain tan hide where as the same weight in chemical tan you have to break out the glovers needles.
I know others do not like to use sinew..LOL when doing traditional clothing or museum quality remakes it is required,, funny part of that is many people do not realize if your using the entire animal that you can obtain one of the least breakable threads this way..I typically use the artificial sinew or pre-treat my upholstery threads with beeswax when stitching items that do not have to be that grade.I usually do not do the sewing machine and glues and such very often in what I have been creating most my life.
I look forward to following your vision.
Mary

Hi there Bill,
It is always nice to see others from up in the area show up on the site.We sneak in more occasionally these days to read and write since we have cut our online time down so we can be out enjoying life.
We also have not in the time we have been on the Permies group dropped an intro..Probably should take the time to do that some time.We are a couple of farm kids born and raised in MT with a very diverse background..LOL going to admit we are probably the confused Permie posters. LOL just mean that in the lines of how sometimes it is confusing to us to read old time methods being pumped into something new.LOL We have taught alternative gardening and other life skills for years although this year will be our first year of no longer doing that and working hard toward our new beginning. James does not make it in often either his speciality has been masonry and alternative construction,lol at least until leeds and the official green building stuff took off....He is one of the few people in the Flathead who has built russian furnace or two had them tested and given talks on them..Wish he would come in and chat more here on the forums.Any how nice to see another from our area in here posting

I am never sure if I should post to these.
Tom,
The Aquarius Farms way of growing tomatoes is similar to a method we have used for many years as a matter of fact we learned it from an old gardener who lived a few miles from your place and gardened for 70 years in the area.He however taught us some bonus methods that begin the basic root structure growing from the lanky stems so that when they were laid on their side they would be fully rooted in a matter of a week.This was also helped along with an herbal tea to water in that encouraged quick root growth but also helped the plant with shock and disease prevention. We also grew up with a grandmother who taught us to use a home-made based form of Mycorrhizal fungi.That if used properly will make the plants healthier, have higher production and use less water. Through the years I have tested this type of planting and process in several alternative gardening beds, normal gardens as well as hugle beds. All plants treated the same way with the same amounts of water, organic fertilizers etc..Hate to say this but they have all produced equally.The container based plants produced a bit quicker but in the long run the similar amounts of tomatoes.Toss these out in WOWs with hot manure to heat them and we have had cold set type tomatoes in the past as early as the middle of June.
Wink I grew up in the area your building your Aquarius farms and used to produce an acre sized organic garden that rocked hugs amounts of produce.Which was developed around creating micro climates to allow for earlier planting and longer growing seasons. As well as using old knowledge of gardening.
Hope you guys have a great growing season down there

I find this interesting in a sense but also at last check have probably 8 books or so on the subjects somewhere in the book shelves. The reason I do own those books I grew up in the native american culture and learned to tan hides from a couple of grandmothers who have been given awards for their tanning abilities while they were living.I made traditional native and frontier clothing. As my clientele grew I searched out other ways to tan hides for different types of leathers and skins besides brain tan in natural forms.I have tanned everything from fish to bison.I am a seamstress with 35 plus years experience with leather and other materials.And use to teach all this stuff. Guess I fall into that old people area LOL and possibly a grumpy old people..Who has had old skills handed down from generations not because I wanted to learn them but because it was tradition, it was a part of life and in some cases survival since we did live on the reservation in a state of poverty if that is what people want to label it.
I very much respect the concept of this coming from a permaculture based direction.But guess I am loss to how using traditional methods should be relabelled.. And hun, yes I can remove hair with out the use of any toxic materials. Making home-made lye from ashes just used to speed up the process if I needed leather quickly.It also gave me extra lye for making soap. Amazing what you can also do with the burying process and plant materials that make up certain enzymes and fungi that help the hair slip, but also colors the leather some what.
Umm and those heavy hides, if tanned properly use them for clothes for gads sake..We have made some amazing hair on and off buffalo coats.Mocs and mukluks from moose and buffalo..Leather is one great material to work with if tanned properly. If your going to write this subject however from a permaculture aspect you may also want to explain thread and needles made from the harvested animals.How to obtain and break down sinew for sewing with it,How to properly prepare the leather for sewing into clothing .Something that misses in almost all books, hence why people end up with stretched out of shape garments. Not to forget lacing techniques that not only add decoration but are really functional as well.. I preferred to not use the sewing machines for leather work and stitch with sinew or artificial sinew.Threads for stitching leather really hold up much better if they are treated with beeswax..
Wish you well with this book.Be respectful of the elders in this world who have these skills when you write it..
Mary

Jeff,
Should be easy to find someone in Spokane.